


Santa Fe, My Old Friend

by jackkellys



Series: Fall(ing) For You [20]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst?, Fluff, M/M, Santa Fe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 06:18:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16402901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackkellys/pseuds/jackkellys
Summary: Jack thinks of why he can’t go to Santa Fe.





	Santa Fe, My Old Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Day Twenty: Santa Fe

Francis Sullivan has dreamed of Santa Fe since he was three years old. It started with his mom, who lived there when she came from México. Santa Fe was where she met Francis' father. They moved all the way to New York before he turned one so he had no memories of being in Santa Fe, only stories. 

 Then when Francis was eight his mother died. Then when he was ten, his dad was sent to jail and Francis was in the refuge. It's also when he began to call himself Jack Kelly. Jack after his mother's name: Jacqueline and Kelly came from something he heard on the street.  

The refuge was a "jail for kids," mostly kids who were poor and slept on the streets. Kids who had to steal food to survive. It was the worse place Jack could imagine, he would rather be at home with his father than this place. The punishment was just as bad as when he was home.

During his time in the refuge, Jack Kelly created a fantasy for himself. A dream of Santa Fe, the city made out of clay. Somewhere he and his parents could start again, his mom would be happy again and his dad wouldn't beat on them. Santa Fe. His parents were waiting for him there, they would accept him with open arms.

About a year later, Jack's chance came. The man running for governor, Teddy Roosevelt, came to visit the "orphanage." They had cleaned all day and were fed an actual meal to show they were a good institution for the governor. Jack booked it the minute the warden, Snyder, was preoccupied talking to Roosevelt. He hid on the back of the carriage, he doesn't know how long.

He was free. It might still be the streets of New York but it was better than the refuge.

Jack joined the Newsies sometime after, gaining the nickname "Cowboy" because of his love for Santa Fe. As his years of being a newsboy dragged on, he dreamed more and more of Santa Fe.

At the age of seventeen, Jack was ready for Santa Fe. He had saved up enough money and was ready to go. Jack had almost enough, he just had to work up the nerve to actually go.

He didn’t believe he could ever leave his boys.

He thought about Crutchie, a younger Newsie (he wasn’t that much younger than Jack, only a year) who had a bad leg. Jack had promised to take him, the problem was he didn’t have enough money for the both. Jack couldn’t leave him.

Then he thought about Katherine Plumber Pulitzer, about how she helped them with the Strike. She joked about it first, but she grew to be a big part of the Strike and of the Newsies lives, as well as Jack’s. Jack couldn’t just leave her. 

And then there was David Jacobs. David Jacobs, the new Newsie who came to feed his family. He didn’t want to be a part of the Strike, he just wanted to take care of his family yet he joined them anyways. He was the brains of the operation, Jack was just the voice. Jack wouldn’t have come up with idea if it wasn’t for David who had jokingly suggested it. He couldn’t leave David, especially not now.

There was always something special about David. It was different than with his Newsies or with Crutchie or Katherine, he didn’t really understand it. But he knew David felt the same way. They were figuring it out together.

Jack would never be able to up and leave them no matter how much he thought he wanted to. He couldn’t leave, not when David was holding him tightly in Jack’s penthouse. Not when Crutchie told him jokes he had heard from the streets. Not when Katherine would help him read. Not when he played poker with the Newsies, not when the younger newsies looked up to him.

What was so great about Santa Fe, if his family was in New York?


End file.
